1. What's the purpose of this survey?

March 2011

Dear Survey Participant:

My name is Michelle Tennant and I’m an award-winning author and top publicist in America with accolades from PR Week, Good Morning America and NBC news. I’m conducting research for a book I’m writing called, “The Art of Aha: Finding Health, Wealth and Love in the 21st Century.” Not only will I use this book for my masters’s degree candidacy at Pacific Oaks College, but I also am publishing this book and it will be available for public purchase and media review by the end of 2011.

The nature of my study focuses on how people in America pursue their own development after college during the information age, specifically the years 1969 through 2011. People choose all kinds of paths for life fulfillment so I’m researching their choices such as: therapy and counseling, behavioral change in groups (for example, Weight Watchers, 12 Step Programs), human development seminars (Landmark Education, Tony Robbins, Debbie Ford), and transpersonal methods (church, Native American/indiginous, spiritual groups, New Age, hypnosis, yoga). After doing initial research, I discovered many people pursue their growth in adulthood simply with books so this will also be included as a modality method in this survey.

Your time commitment to this survey is estimated at fifteen minutes to a half hour (depends on how much you share). There are no risks to you as a participant although if you share personal stories in the narrative sections, please keep in mind they may be disclosed in the final version of the book.

Your participation is voluntary and you may withdraw at any time. All participants in this survey read this consent form before proceeding to the survey on SurveyMonkey.com (you're doing it right now as a matter of fact!) An additional copy of this informed consent can be requested via email. Should you desire an additional copy, please email TheArtOfAha@gmail.com

Participant last names and identifying information will not be used in the study. By sharing your story with me, you give me permission to only use your first name. If you prefer to use an alias, simply say so when you share your story.

I have created a website for this project: http://www.TheArtOfAha.com and results of my study will be available to all participants there. Throughout 2011, I will be updating the website and, once the book is published (anticipated publish date Fall 2011), final study results will appear at this website.

Thanks for participating in this research.
Michelle Clarissa Tennant Nicholson
790 Thompson Road, Saluda, NC 28773
TheArtOfAha@gmail.com
828.749.3200 (office) or 828.817.4034 (cell/text)

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